SS Generals – M thru Z / SS Generäle – M bis Z

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Otto Ohlendorf

Otto Ohlendorf (4 February 1907 – 7 June 1951) was a German SS-Gruppenführer and head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) Inland, responsible for intelligence and security within Germany. Ohlendorf was also the commanding officer of Einsatzgruppe D, which perpetrated mass murder in Moldova, south Ukraine, the Crimea, and, during 1942, the north Caucasus. He was convicted of and executed for war crimes committed during World War II.

Otto Ohlendorf

Otto Ohlendorf as SS-Brigadeführer.

Ohlendorf (left) with Heinz Jost.

Ohlendorf at the Nuremberg Trials.

Artur Phleps

Artur Gustav Martin Phleps, 29. November 1881 – 21 September 1944, was an Austro-Hungarian, Romanian and German army officer who held the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS (lieutenant general) in the Waffen-SS during World War II. An Austro-Hungarian Army officer before and during World War I, he specialised in mountain warfare and logistics, and had been promoted to Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) by the end of the war. During the interwar period he joined the Romanian Army, reaching the rank of General-locotenent (major general), and also became an adviser to King Carol. After he spoke out against the government, he was sidelined and asked to be dismissed from the army.

In 1941 he left Romania and joined the Waffen-SS as a SS-Standartenführer (colonel) under his mother’s maiden name of Stolz. Seeing action on the Eastern Front as a regimental commander with the SS Motorised Division Wiking, he later raised and commanded the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen, raised the 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian), and commanded the V SS Mountain Corps. Units under his command committed many crimes against the civilian population of the Independent State of Croatia, German-occupied territory of Serbia and Italian governorate of Montenegro. His final appointment was as plenipotentiary general in south Siebenbürgen and the Banat, during which he organised the evacuation of the Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) of Siebenbürgen to the Reich. In addition to the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, Phleps was awarded the German Cross in Gold, and after he was killed in September 1944, he was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight’s Cross.

From left: Italian General Ercole Roncaglia, Kurt Waldheim, Oberst (Colonel) Macholz and Phleps (with briefcase) at Podgorica airfield in Montenegro during Case Black, 22 May 1943. This photograph caused much controversy when it was published while Waldheim was running for the Austrian presidency in 1985–1986.

Phleps’ birthplace of Birthälm in Siebenbürgen in modern-day Transylvania.

Oswald Pohl

Oswald Ludwig Pohl (30 June 1892 – 8 June 1951) was a Nazi official and member of the SS. He rose to the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer, and was involved in the administration of German concentration camps during the Second World War. After the war he went into hiding and then was found in 1946, was judicially tried in 1947, repeatedly appealed his case, and finally was executed by hanging in 1951.

SS-Obergruppenführer Oswald Pohl as an accused in trial, maybe in Landsberg.

Hermann Prieß

Gerhard “Gerd” Pleiß (May 24, 1901 – February 2, 1985) was the commander of 3rd SS Division Totenkopf following the death of Theodor Eicke in February 1943. He was also a recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub und Schwertern). The Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves and Swords was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.

He was promoted to SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS on April 20, 1944. On October 30, 1944 he became the commanding officer of the 1st SS-Panzerkorps Leibstandarte and led it during the Battle of the Bulge.

After the war, Hermann Prieß was convicted of war crimes because of his involvement in the Malmedy massacre and was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. He was released in 1954.

Johann ‘Hans’ Rattenhuber

Johann Rattenhuber (30 April 1897 – 30 June 1957), also known as Hans Rattenhuber, was a German police and SS general (Gruppenführer, i. e. Generalleutnant). Rattenhuber was the head of German dictator Adolf Hitler’s personal Reichssicherheitsdienst (Reich Security Service; RSD) bodyguard from 1933 to 1945.

Johann Rattenhuber as an SS Brigadeführer.

Johann Rattenhuber

Johann Rattenhuber

Rattenhuber in Soviet captivity.

Wilhelm Rediess

Friedrich Wilhelm Rediess (10 October 1900 – 8 May 1945) was the SS and Police Leader during the German occupation of Norway in the Second World War. He was also the commanding General (Obergruppenführer) of all SS troops stationed in occupied Norway, assuming command on 22 June 1940 until his death in 1945.

Wilhelm Rediess , Josef Terboven, Vidkun Quisling and Paul Wegener in receipt of the Storting under the Act of State 1942.

Heinz Reinefarth

Gruppenführer Heinrich Reinefarth (commonly known as Heinz Reinefarth, December 26, 1903-May 7, 1979) was a Nazi German military officer during World War II and government official in FRG after the war. During the Warsaw Uprising of August 1944 his troops committed numerous war atrocities. After the war Reinefarth became the mayor of the town of Westerland and member of the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag. Despite Polish demands for extradition, he was never convicted of any war crimes.

SS-Gruppenführer Heinz Reinefarth “Butcher of Wola” (left, in Cossack headgear) and the Regiment III of Cossacks of Jakub Bondarenko during Warsaw Uprising around Wolska Street. Third Regiment of Cossacks contained a mix of Cossacks from many regions, and Jakub Bondarenko was commanding 5th Regiment of Kuban Cossack Infantry

August Schmidhuber

August Schmidhuber, 8 May 1901 – 19 February 1947was an SS-, Brigadeführer of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen from 20 January 1944 to 8 May 1945, and the 21st Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Skanderbeg (1st Albanian) from May 1944 onwards.

During the anti-partisan warfare in Kosovo, Schmidhuber issued orders to kill prisoners and burn villages. Convicted of war crimes in Yugoslavia, he was executed on 27 February 1947 in Belgrade.

Commanders of “Prinz Eugen”.

August Schmidhuber (far right, in front) and other SS officers on tour of Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, April 1941.

Felix Steiner

Felix Martin Julius Steiner (23 May 1896 – 12 May 1966) was an Obergruppenführer in the Waffen-SS during World War II, who commanded several SS divisions and corps. He was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Together with Paul Hausser, he contributed significantly to the development and transformation of the Waffen-SS into a military force made up of volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and un-occupied lands.

Steiner was chosen by Heinrich Himmler to oversee the creation of and then command the elite SS Division Wiking. In 1943, he was promoted to the command of the III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps. On 28 January 1945, Steiner was placed in command of the 11th SS Panzer Army, which formed part of a new ad-hoc formation to protect Berlin from the Soviet armies advancing from the Vistula River.

On 21 April, during the Battle for Berlin, Steiner was placed in command of Army Detachment Steiner, while Adolf Hitler ordered Steiner to envelop the 1st Belorussian Front through a pincer movement, advancing from the north of the city. However, as his exhausted unit was outnumbered by ten to one, Steiner made it clear that he did not have the capacity for a counter-attack on 22 April during the daily situation conference in the Führerbunker.

After the capitulation of Germany, Steiner was imprisoned and indicted as part of the Nuremberg Trials. He was cleared of war crimes charges and released in 1948. He was a founding member of HIAG, a lobby group of negationistic apologists, founded by former high-ranking Waffen-SS personnel in 1951 to campaign for the legal, economic and historical rehabilitation of the Waffen-SS.

Felix Steiner

Felix Steiner as SS-Gruppenführer.

Felix Steiner as SS-Gruppenführer.

Jürgen Stroop

Jürgen Stroop (born Josef Stroop, 26 September 1895, Detmold, Germany – 6 March 1952, Warsaw, Poland) was an SS General during World War II. He is best known for being in command against the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and for writing the Stroop Report, a booklength account of the operation. Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, Stroop was prosecuted during the Dachau Trials and convicted of murdering nine American POWs. After his extradition to the People’s Republic of Poland, Stroop was tried, convicted, and hanged for crimes against humanity.

Jürgen Stroop (center, in a field cap) with his men in the burning of Warsaw Ghetto, 1943.

Jürgen Stroop in U.S. military custody, 1945.

Stroop before a Polish court in 1951.

Anton Vogler

Anton Vogler , born 1882 , was a German SS – Brigadeführer and General Major in the Waffen SS . He was, among other things, Chief of Staff of SS-Oberabschnitt Süd and Deputy Commander of SS-Oberabschnitt Süd with a service center in Munich . In addition, he was Deputy Higher SS and Policf ( Höhere SS and Polizeiführer , HSSPF) in the Süd office with a service center in Munich.

The state funeral of Hugo Bruckmann (13 October 1863 – 3 September 1941) which was held in Münich, 6 September 1941. Bruckmann and his wife Elsa Bruckmann were among the early and highly influential promoters of Adolf Hitler, and they helped him with gaining access to, and acceptance within, upper-class circles in Münich. Just behind the woman in black veil (sitting third from right) is SS-Brigadeführer Leopold Gutterer (Staatssekretär im Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda), while the back row behind Gutterer were, from left to right: SS-Brigadeführer Anton Vogler, SS-Obergruppenführer Friedrich “Karl” Freiherr von Eberstein, two unknown Heer generals, SS-Brigadeführer Hans Dauser, SA-Obergruppenführer Ludwig Siebert, SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Fiehler (his head is shown under an outstreched hand behind Gutterer), Reichsstatthalter Franz Xaver Ritter von Epp (wearing brown party uniform), and SA-Obergruppenführer Hans-Georg Hofmann.

The state funeral of Hugo Bruckmann (13 October 1863 – 3 September 1941) which was held in Münich, 6 September 1941. Bruckmann and his wife Elsa Bruckmann were among the early and highly influential promoters of Adolf Hitler, and they helped him with gaining access to, and acceptance within, upper-class circles in Münich. Just behind the woman in black veil (sitting third from right) is SS-Brigadeführer Leopold Gutterer (Staatssekretär im Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda), while the back row behind Gutterer were, from left to right: SS-Brigadeführer Anton Vogler, SS-Obergruppenführer Friedrich “Karl” Freiherr von Eberstein, two unknown Heer generals, SS-Brigadeführer Hans Dauser, SA-Obergruppenführer Ludwig Siebert, SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Fiehler (his head is shown under an outstreched hand behind Gutterer), Reichsstatthalter Franz Xaver Ritter von Epp (wearing brown party uniform), and SA-Obergruppenführer Hans-Georg Hofmann.

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski (1 March 1899 – 8 March 1972) was a high-ranking Schutzstaffel (SS) commander during World War II in charge of so-called anti-partisan warfare (Bandenkampf (literally: “bandit fighting”)) against “bandits” and any other persons assumed to present danger to the Nazi rule or Wehrmacht’s security in the occupied territories of Eastern Europe. It mostly involved the civilian population. In 1944 he led the brutal suppression of the Warsaw Uprising.

Despite his responsibility for numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity, Bach-Zelewski did not stand trial in Nuremberg. He was convicted for politically motivated murders after the war and died in prison in 1972.

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski

Karl von Eberstein

Friedrich Karl Freiherr von Eberstein (14 January 1894 – 10 February 1979) was a member of the German nobility, early member of the Nazi Party, the SA, and the SS (introducing Reinhard Heydrich to Heinrich Himmler in July 1931). Further, he rose to become a Reichstag delegate, an HSSPF and SS-Oberabschnitt Führer (chief of the Munich Police in World War II), and was a witness at the Nuremberg Trials.

Karl von Eberstein

The state funeral of Hugo Bruckmann (13 October 1863 – 3 September 1941) which was held in Münich, 6 September 1941. Bruckmann and his wife Elsa Bruckmann were among the early and highly influential promoters of Adolf Hitler, and they helped him with gaining access to, and acceptance within, upper-class circles in Münich. Just behind the woman in black veil (sitting third from right) is SS-Brigadeführer Leopold Gutterer (Staatssekretär im Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda), while the back row behind Gutterer were, from left to right: SS-Brigadeführer Anton Vogler, SS-Obergruppenführer Friedrich “Karl” Freiherr von Eberstein, two unknown Heer generals, SS-Brigadeführer Hans Dauser, SA-Obergruppenführer Ludwig Siebert, SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Fiehler (his head is shown under an outstreched hand behind Gutterer), Reichsstatthalter Franz Xaver Ritter von Epp (wearing brown party uniform), and SA-Obergruppenführer Hans-Georg Hofmann.

The state funeral of Hugo Bruckmann (13 October 1863 – 3 September 1941) which was held in Münich, 6 September 1941. Bruckmann and his wife Elsa Bruckmann were among the early and highly influential promoters of Adolf Hitler, and they helped him with gaining access to, and acceptance within, upper-class circles in Münich. Just behind the woman in black veil (sitting third from right) is SS-Brigadeführer Leopold Gutterer (Staatssekretär im Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda), while the back row behind Gutterer were, from left to right: SS-Brigadeführer Anton Vogler, SS-Obergruppenführer Friedrich “Karl” Freiherr von Eberstein, two unknown Heer generals, SS-Brigadeführer Hans Dauser, SA-Obergruppenführer Ludwig Siebert, SS-Obergruppenführer Karl Fiehler (his head is shown under an outstreched hand behind Gutterer), Reichsstatthalter Franz Xaver Ritter von Epp (wearing brown party uniform), and SA-Obergruppenführer Hans-Georg Hofmann.

Karl von Oberkamp

Karl von Oberkamp (30 October 1893 – 4 May 1947) was a German Waffen-SS commander and war criminal during World War II. During his SS career, he commanded the SS Division Prinz Eugen, the SS Division Nibelungen and the V SS Mountain Corps.

Following World War II, Oberkamp was extradited to Yugoslavia, where he was tried for war crimes. He was sentenced to death and hanged in Belgrade on 4 May 1947.

Commanders of “Prinz Eugen”.

Christian Weber

Christian Ludwig Weber, 25. August 1883 in Polsingen – 11. May 1945 at Ludwigsburg and on the Swabian Alb, was from 1933/34 SS honorary leader, since 1937 inspector of the SS riding schools, most recently SS Brigadeführer, Munich councilor, and member of the Reichstag .

Theodor Wisch

Theodor Wisch (13 December 1907 – 11 January 1995) was a high-ranking member of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a commander of the SS Division Leibstandarte (LSSAH) and a recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. He assumed command of the LSSAH in April 1943. He was seriously wounded in combat on the Western Front by a naval artillery barrage in the Falaise Pocket on 20 August 1944, and replaced as division commander by SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke.

Theodor Wisch

Fritz Witt

Fritz Witt, 27 May 1908 – 14 June 1944, was a German Waffen-SS officer who served with the 1.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler before taking command of the 12.SS-Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend. Witt was killed by an allied naval barrage in 1944.

Max Wünsche(left), Fritz Witt(center), Kurt Meyer(right) at a commanders strategy session on or about 7–14 June 1944 in the vicinity of Caen, France.

Karl Wolff

Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff (13 May 1900 – 17 July 1984) was a high-ranking member of the Nazi SS, ultimately holding the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS. He became Chief of Personal Staff to the Reichsführer (Heinrich Himmler) and SS Liaison Officer to Hitler until his replacement in 1943. He ended World War II as the Supreme Commander of all SS forces in Italy. After the war, Wolff was also a central witness as to the alleged plot to kidnap Pope Pius XII.

Karl Wolff as an SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS with first pattern of SS collar tab. Visible also his Goldenes Parteiabzeichen der NSDAP.

Karl Wolff as an SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS with second pattern of SS collar tab.

Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (right) and an Ukrainian child destined for the Lebensborn Project, 1941. In the centre is Himmler’s Chief of adjudant SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS Karl Wolff, while at left is Himmler’s driver and bodyguard, SS-Obersturmführer Josef “Sepp” Kiermaier.

An official visit of Heinrich Himmler in the Łódź Ghetto, Thursday, 5 June 1941. The grey-haired man is Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski. He was the “leader” of the Jewish community in the Lodz Ghetto (Litzmannstadt). There were a number of manufacturing enterprises in the ghetto. The German Wehrmacht had orders filled for uniform pieces and other things made by Jewish laborers. Himmler paid a brief visit to the ghetto in connection with the production taking place there. Visible also Himmler’s Chief Adjudant Karl Wolff; the man with his face peeking over the shoulder of the Political officer at the far left of the frame is Ghetto Administrator, Hans Biebow; and the man next to the driver could be Dr. Wilhelm Albert.

An official visit of Heinrich Himmler in the Łódź Ghetto, Thursday, 5 June 1941. The grey-haired man is Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski. He was the “leader” of the Jewish community in the Lodz Ghetto (Litzmannstadt). Visible also Himmler’s Chief Adjudant Karl Wolff. BTW, In 1987 someone rummaging in a second hand bookstore in Vienna came across a set of about 400 color slides. Upon examination, they turned out to be images of the Lodz ghetto, taken by Walter Genewein, the Nazis’ chief accountant.

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